Puncture

On 6 December 2010, Continental Airlines was found criminally responsible for the disaster by a Parisian court and was fined € 200,000 and ordered to pay Air France € 1 million. Continental mechanic John Taylor was given a 15-month suspended sentence, while another airline operative and three French officials were cleared of all charges. The court ruled that the crash resulted from a piece of metal from a Continental jet that was left on the runway; the object punctured a tyre on the Concorde and then ruptured a fuel tank. Another Continental employee, Stanley Ford, was found not guilty. Continental’s lawyer, Olivier Metzner, said it would appeal the verdict.

The court also ruled that Continental would have to pay 70% of any compensation claims. As Air France has paid out € 100 million to the families of the victims, Continental could be made to pay its share of that compensation payout. Source – Wikipedia